Wild Turkey 86.8

[ggilbertva]

Anyone have info on this Wild Turkey variant? I came into two 1.75L bottles this weekend and had never heard of this odd proof. The bottles are late 70's and early 80's. Just curious what to expect. Thanks.

Cheers/Greg

[cowdery]

See my reply under your other WT post.

Do those bottles have an age statement?

[scratchline]

No age statement, Chuck. But I have read elsewhere that it contained whiskey as young as seven years old which would make sense given that the 101 was labelled as 8 yrs old. When I did a tasting of the WT products last summer, the 86.8 showed very well as did the old 8 yr.

-Mike

[ggilbertva]

Mike is correct, no age statement....and he would know...he gave me the bottles...thank again!

[TNbourbon]

I have owned a couple of Wild Turkey 86.8 minis with a 7yo age statements. I remember thinking it good whiskey (better than today's, just like old Jim Beam 80- and 86-proof of that era is better than today's versions -- richer and more complex flavor packages, probably from lower distilling proofs), but have no keener recollection, I'm afraid.
I also second Chuck's impression -- expressed elsewhere in these fora -- of today's WT 101 as reminiscent of JB white or JD black. I had the same revelation recently -- corn and bananas.

[Bourbon Joe]

I was in New Orleans recently and picked up a pint of WT 101 (the new stuff). I thought it more "bitey" and less refined than bottles of even a few years ago. I hope this is not, or will be, the wave of the future for Bourbon.
Joe

[cowdery]

I think the "wave" is that the <$20 "standard" bourbons will tend to have no age statement and taste like they're four years and a day old, and if you want something better you'll have to pay a little more for it. I also think we got spoiled during the long bourbon "glut," when many of the "standard" bourbons were older than they had to be just because there was so much aged whiskey around.